Visual Materials: 246

246  Added titles

Added titles enhance access when there are multiple options for the choice of title or when the chief title contains text that may challenge retrieval. Consider including one or more additional titles in the following situations:

1) If non-roman text has been transcribed within the first five words of the title proper, provide additional title access for a romanized version of the title proper.

2) Rebuses: If any of the first five words in the title proper contains a rebus, provide additional title access for the title with the intended words unbracketed.

3) Title proper with converted letterforms I, V, i, j, u, or v. Provide additional title access for the form of the title proper that corresponds to modern orthography.

4) Punctuation substituting for letters. If a title proper contains hyphens or other characters as substitutes for letters, and the meaning of the characters is known, provide additional access to the decoded form of the title.

5) Titles with inserted spaces. If any spacing has been inserted in the transcription of the first five words of the title proper, provide additional title access for the form of title with the inserted spaces removed.

6) Variant spellings involving spacing. If any variant or archaic spacing has been transcribed in the first five words of the title proper, provide additional title access for the form of title with modern spacing.

7) Title proper with an interpolated blank. If a blank space intended to be filled in manuscript has been transcribed within the first five words of the title proper as the word “blank” enclosed in square brackets, provide additional title access for the form of title proper without the interpolated blank.

8) Deliberate misspellings. If the title proper contains words that are deliberately misspelled for humorous effect, provide additional title access for the title spelled correctly.

9) Alternative titles. Provide additional title access for alternative titles. 
Comment: In the cataloging world of AACR2 and RDA, the term ‘Alternative title’ has a very specific meaning that is different from what MODS intends. In AACR2, the definition of Alternative Title: The second part of a title proper that consists of two parts, each of which is a title; the parts are joined by word “or” or its equivalent in another language.

Example: 

Title on the piece = title proper transcribed in Title element: The tempest, or, The enchanted island.

Alternative title: Enchanted island

10) Titles including abbreviations. Provide additional title access for titles with the abbreviations spelled out.

11) Parallel titles. Provide additional title access for parallel titles.

12) Series titles. Provide access for the series title proper exactly as it appears in the publication, including any numbering. See Series Element.

13) Other title. Provide additional title access to any other title-like information on or with the material.

14) Titles from a catalogue raisonné when it differs from the transcribed title.

Examples:

For transcribed title: Comittee. 
Added title (corrected misspelling): Committee

For transcribed title: St. Anne's Church, Annapolis, Md. 
Added title (abbreviation spelled out): Saint Anne’s Church, Annapolis, Maryland

For transcribed title: ***** on the sublime & beautiful
First added title (with ampersand replaced by ‘and’): ***** on the sublime and beautiful
Second added title (with punctuation replaced by intended letters): Burke on the sublime & beautiful
Third added title: Burke on the sublime and beautiful

For transcribed title: Buss & blunderbuss, or, Love among the chimney pots.
Added title for alternative title: Love among the chimney pots
Second added title: Buss and blunderbuss

Source: SER, SIVE SERICVS VERMIS
Transcribed title: Ser, siue, Sericus vermis
Added title (normalized modern): Ser, sive Sericus vermis

Source: Yo Semite Falls. California
Transcribed title: Yo Semite Falls. California
Added title (modern spelling): Yosemite Falls, California